The Kyabazinga is a title meaning King among the Busoga people who live on the shores of river Nile in eastern Uganda. They address him as Kyabazinga Isebantu which means ” the father of all” and the Queen Her highness Inebantu (mother of all).
The current king is William Wilberforce Kadhumbula Gabula Nadiope IV who was crowned on 13th September 2014 after being approved by Busoga parliament (Lukiiko). The royal palace of Kyabazinga is called Igenge, found in Bugembe Town council 9.4 km south of Jinja city. The Kyabazinga recently revealed to the public his interest to marry the queen to be Jovia Mutesi. He posted on platform X, the portrait unveiling the face of her highness with a caption of “Her highness Inebantu Queen of Busoga.” His deed incited joy among his subjects here and abroad who had for long demanded of him to marry.
Before the King posted the portrait he had already visited the parents of Her highness fulfilling traditional marriage practice the family of Mutesi was honored to host the King. Traditionally, if the king is interested in your daughter it is considered as a privilege for that family to offer their daughter willingly for the king to marry. Many elders from Busoga and government officials showed massive support for the king and launched a fundraising drive for the Kyabazinga Royal wedding.
The organizing committee of 23 members is chaired by Hon. Rebbecca Kadaga the first Deputy prime minister and former speaker of the parliament of the Republic of Uganda. Other committee members include, resident judge of Iganga High Court, KCCA director, presidential affairs minister, chairman of Uganda Supreme Council and general duties minister. The committee contributed 304 millions so as to and the chairperson encouraged the public to support the ceremony.
Those intending to contribute can do so through Centenary bank accounts, Airtel and MTN merchant codes registered under Kyabazinga of Busoga. So far Nile Breweries Limited has contributed 450 millions and promised to produce specially branded wedding beer. With this kind of support the wedding preparations are moving on smoothly.
The royal wedding dinner is slated to take place on 27th October 2023 at Kololo independence grounds in Kampala. The ticket cost is UGX 500,000 for individuals and 5 millions for a table of 10 people. Then the official royal wedding ceremony for Kyabazinga will take place on 18th November 2023 at Bugembe Christ’s Cathedral in Jinja city and will be streamed live on media platforms. Streaming will be done in various places such as playgrounds, homes, district headquarters and wedding cakes will be served at district headquarters in Busoga region.
Cultural Marriage in Busoga
Busoga traditional ceremony is locally known as the Kisina ky’Obuwangwa or Kinyikili. This cultural event unites both bride and groom families, clans and communities. The Basoga value family, respect, and unity and all these are expressed during the ceremony. Before marriage takes place, a Musoga man would identify a girl he wanted to marry and subsequently send a team of presentable and honorable clan male members to the girls family. The groom’s family first visits the bride’s home to introduce themselves. This visit is informal and it was mainly to get to know each other.
The team comes with local beer, traditionally beer is used to oil the proceedings of marriage between two families. These presentable men table a formal request to allow their son ask the girl’s hand in marriage “okuzaliibwa mumaka.” It is enhanced by the fact that the Basoga always have a particular interest in knowing and vetting their prospective in-laws. The groom does not speak its his spokesperson (omwogezi) speaks on his behalf.
This is followed by subsequent visits which focuses on discussing what the groom must offer the bride’s family. Some of the items include; goat or cow, sugar, salt, and foodstuffs, a suitcase of gomesi (for the bride’s mother), kanzu for the bride’s father and money which is often placed in envelopes for different family members. These negotiations are friendly and once both families agree, a date is set for the traditional wedding day.
However, these days its done through letter writing and it is delivered by the girl to the aunt and then the aunt takes it to the girl’s father. The father does not read read the letter alone but solicits the company of his sisters while reading it. The letter suggests a specific date on which a man intends to present himself for proper introduction. If the date is inconvenient for the girl’s family, an alternative date is chosen and communicated to the man’s family in the reply.
Introduction day ceremony in Busoga
On this day, the groom and his entourage mainly his family arrives at the girl’s at the girls parent’s home carrying gifts and envelopes stuffed with money. These gifts are prepared in baskets, decorated containers and trays. They groom’s side should keep time and if they arrive later than the agreed time, the entrance to the enganguu (reception venue) will certainly be closed to them. It took skillful negotiations accompanied by paying fine to convince the gate keeper to let them enter.
Once they arrive, they are welcomed and then asked to take seats the as formal introductions begin. Their spokesman introduce them one by one as they stand up briefly for recognition. With that accomplished, the hosts ignore the entourage until they pay ekivumbula mumwa (mouth opener), a token that may come in the form of money given to the spokesman of the host. Unless the token is impressive, the visitors will continue to be ignored.
The host side dominates the session while asking the questions with the visitors making sure they answer carefully. After getting familiar with the visitors, the spokesman mentions a set of conditions and expectations upon which the issue of bride price can be discussed. The bride’s paternal aunt takes the floor and kneels in front of her prospective son-in-law handing him a handkerchief containing some money.
The groom is expected to add double of this amount of money and even exceed it by at least 10% before handing it back to the aunt or else she does not introduce him. If she is impressed, the aunt will take floor again and say good things about the groom and after which the girl’s father, if convinced will show approval. Good things about the girl’s background will be mentioned and so will her father’s expectations of a privileged new life for her if the groom marries her.
A playful and symbolic moments follows where several girls are brought and the groom’s side must identify the bride. This signifies respect and ensures the groom truly knows the woman he intends to marry. Once identified, the bride is escorted gracefully and often wearing a bright elegant gomesi.
